Wednesday, January 23, 2013

3. (Law) Law to take (property) temporarily out of the possession of its owner, esp until the claims of creditors are satisfied or a court order is complied wit4. (Law) International law to requisition or appropriate (enemy property)

[from Late Latin sequestrāre to surrender for safekeeping, from Latin sequester a trustee]

I didn't think sequester was the right word for this usage, but lo-and-behold, a fourth definition, specific to international law, is spot on--as in "appropriating enemy property." The Philippine National Police had long been infamous for keeping for their "professional" use any stolen late-model automobiles which they happened to recover, simply by citing a need as their justification. Likewise, Philippine armed forces were travelling on an appropriated high-performance speedboat when they claim to have intercepted and killed the notorious Abu Sayyaf leader and spokesman Abu Sabaya. The Abu Sayyaf had purchased the costly triple-engine vessel with ransom money from the Sipadan hostage taking on Easter, 2000, which the Abu Sayyaf then utilized to effect the Dos Palmas hostage taking in May, 2001---that is, until they ran out of fuel with 20 hostages aboard and had to abandon the boat to authorities.

So it seems a bit incestuous that in June 2002 the AFP (with American SEALS and Green Berets trailing in inflatable rubber craft, rammed a slower going local "kumpit" carrying Abu Sabaya, and an uncertain number of his underlings (One of whom, in his early twenties, died of a "heart attack" during police interrogations; and we learned much later that two of Sabaya's aide d'camp were deep-penetration agents working for the government.) This encounter caused Abu Sabaya to fall overboard, where he was riddled with gunfire, with his remains then sinking, his corpse never to be recovered. In that way he was like a possibly unspoken motivation for the disposal of Osama bin Laden's remains----ie., unexumable, they both "sleep with the fishes," in Mario Puzo's appropriate gangster euphemism.

November 17, 2000, Sun Star Zamboanga, Gov't to sequester Sayyaf assets, by Bong Garcia Jr.,
The military are studying possible ways of confiscating all housing units and other properties, which prominent leaders of the Abu Sayyaf acquired through the ransom money the bandits had amassed during the hostage-taking in Sulu.

Joint Task Force Trident chief Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya Thursday said at least eight housing units acquired by the Abu Sayyaf in Indanan town were discovered by the pursuing military troops. Abaya said the government lawyers are now studying what legal process could be applied to sequester the properties acquired by the Abu Sayyaf through the use of the ransom money.

"Obviously these properties are illegally acquired because they have purchased the properties using the ransom money they have amassed from kidnappings and our lawyers are studying the possibilities to confiscate all of these," Abaya said. "We have to teach them a lesson that they will not earn any kingdom out of their kidnappings," he added. The military are also trying to establish the identity of the housing unit owners.

He said most of the villagers are now helping the military and the police to locate all the properties, which were acquired by the Abu Sayyaf during the hostage crisis. The Abu Sayyaf, who seized a total of 42 people mostly foreigners including journalists covering the hostage crisis, has amassed million of pesos from the ransom paid to them.

Each of the foreigners out of the 21 people of the bandits has seized last April 23 in Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia was freed in exchange of P40-million. Fifteen of the European journalists were divested of their cash, equipments and other personal belongings. Another group of 9 German journalists were allowed to cover the camp a day after the interview by the bandits following payment of U.S. $25,000. The military intelligence disclosed that the bandits managed to amass more than P300-million.
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Now I just noticed that the BBC's original reporting, quoting Major-General Ernesto Carolina, (who was the newly installed commander of the Armed Forces' Southern Command,) said that "divers had recovered sunglasses like those worn by Abu Sabaya, a satellite phone and a backpack from the sea."

While in a second BBC article published the same day, June 21, 2002, it states that "[a] pair of Abu Sabaya's trademark wrap-around sunglasses was found broken at the scene. [the scene was the attempted hostage-rescue encounter between the AFP and Abu Sayyaf in the hinterland hills of Mindanao island.] He is known for always wearing black shades and a black bandana."

Although he might have had more than one pair, it became standard reference fact in news articles that Abu Sabaya lost or had left behind in his escape from the attempted hostage rescue his sunglasses, satellite phone and knapsack (in which the CIA had secreted a tracking device! Since tracking his near-constant,"taunting" phone calls via satellite interception would seem to be only the keen of the National Reconnaissance Office. "50 Years of Vigilance From Above!" or so we're told.)

The Philippines military has claimed to have killed a top Abu Sayyaf leader, Abu Sabaya, in what would be a propaganda coup for the authorities.

But even if confirmed, Abu Sabaya's death may not spell the death-knell for the group.

He is the chief spokesman and best-known leader of the Muslim rebel group, which is notorious for kidnapping for ransom.

Abu Sayyaf's top leader Khadafi Janjalani (right) is still at large

But other leaders are still unaccounted for - including four with a $5m American bounty on their heads.
Abu Sayyaf expert Glenda Gloria told BBC News Online that Abu Sabaya's death, if confirmed, would be a "big victory" for the government but would "not solve the whole problem".

"Abu Sabaya is known to be the most ruthless leader of them all, but there are other leaders still in hiding," she said.

The Abu Sayyaf - which says it is fighting for a separate Muslim state - is led by the reclusive Khadafi Janjalani, brother of the group's founder, Abdurajak Janjalani, who was killed by troops in 1998.

He remains a key figure said Ms Gloria, co-author of Under the Crescent Moon: Rebellion in Mindanao. There are also other factions unaccounted for, she said.

"It's a very loose organisation," she said. "That's always been a problem for the military."

Most wanted

Abu Sabaya - who changed his name from Aldam Tilao - was the most prominent name on the US wanted-list, known for using satellite phones to call local radio stations and taunt the authorities.

A former police trainee, he used to be a member of the Muslim separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), before leaving the group when it signed a 1996 peace treaty with the government.

He spent a number of years in Saudi Arabia before joining the Abu Sayyaf in 1999. He went on to lead a series of high-profile kidnappings of foreigners and Filipinos, many of whom were killed or released for ransom.

In June 2001 he announced on radio that the group had beheaded Californian Guillermo Sobero as an "independence day gift" for President Gloria Arroyo. The remains of Mr Sobero were found four months later.

Two weeks ago, two remaining US hostages were shot during a shootout between rebels and Philippine troops. US missionary Martin Burnham and a Filipina nurse were killed, but Mr Burnham's wife Gracia was rescued.

A pair of Abu Sabaya's trademark wrap-around sunglasses was found broken at the scene. He is known for always wearing black shades and a black bandana.
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A Philippine commando raid meant to free two Americans and a Philippine citizen held hostage by the Islamic rebel group Abu Sayyaf ended with two of the hostages dead Friday.

The hostages were held for more than a year by Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic separatist group in the southern Philippines that U.S. officials say is linked to al Qaeda. President Bush said Friday that Abu Sayyaf would be held accountable for the hostages' deaths.

The rescue attempt early Friday led to a two-hour firefight and the deaths of hostages Martin Burnham, an American missionary from Wichita, Kansas, and Deborah Yap, a Filipina nurse. The third hostage -- Burnham's wife, Gracia Burnham -- was wounded in her right leg and is out of danger, Philippine Marine Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio said.

Officials said that several Filipino soldiers and rebels also died in the rescue attempt.

Authorities said Gracia Burnham was being brought to Manila to be reunited with her sister, Cheryl Spicer. Martin Burnham's body will be taken to Okinawa for transport to the United States, they said.

In Kansas, Doug Burnham, Martin Burnham's brother, said Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo telephoned the family personally to give them the news.

"Obviously it hasn't turned out the way we were expecting it to turn out," he said from Rose Hill Bible Church. "We are thankful that Gracia is alive, and our faith in the Lord is still the same. It doesn't change, and that's what we're going to hold onto." (Family reaction)

Bush expressed his sympathies to the Burnham family and said he had discussed the raid with Arroyo.

"She assured me that the Philippine government would hold the terrorist group accountable for how they treated these Americans, that justice would be done," Bush said.

The president later phoned Burnham's parents to "personally express his condolences," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

A premonition of violence had led Martin Burnham to write a letter several days ago to his three children, a senior Philippine military official said. That letter was recovered after the rescue. (Full story)

The Burnham children remain with their maternal grandparents, Doug Burnham said. He declined to express an opinion about the rescue attempt, saying there were not enough details available to form one.

"We are grateful for everyone who tried to rescue them," he said. "I'm sure in the future, we'll get more details."
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The notorious Abu Sayyaf group, which is comprised of perhaps 500 well-armed "Tausug" tribal fighters, sows terror in the southern Philippines by kidnapping Christian school children, teachers, and principals, as well as international tourists and missionaries--holding them hostage for weeks and months until ransom is paid. The ransom money purchases increasingly Abu Sayyaf means of living and powerful arms, communications equipment, and training on how to use the technology provided by operatives of Al Qaeda, the international terrorist network of which Abu Sayyaf is the Filipino arm. The ultimate goal of these activities, according to one Abu Sayyaf member, is to first "take back" the Philippines (more below) and then take over the world. Said he: "When all of the Philippines belong[s] to us, we'[ll] move on to Thailand and other countries where there is such oppression. You see, Islam is for the whole world." (1)

Three Recent Large Abu Sayyaf Attacks

There have been three large and savage attacks perpetrated by Abu Sayyaf since 2000. In each case, the terrorists escaped.

The first attack occurred on March 20, 2000 when Abu Sayyaf startled the predominantly-Christian town of Tumahubong on the remote southern side of Basilan Island, facing the island province of Sulu, by kidnapping 50 mostly Christian students, teachers, principals and priests from two schools (Muslim students were let go). The terrorists were apparently angry because the teachers had not paid their monthly "donations" to Abu Sayyaf. While waiting for ransom monies to arrive, Abu Sayyaf members made good on their promise to behead several male teachers and rape at least one woman. Said one of the bandits: "I cut off their penises also, that way they cannot enter paradise anyway." (2)

The terrorists "hated Christianity and there were many attempts to convert the teachers and the children to Islam but it had no effect," noted one observer. Indeed, why would the Tausugs kidnap teachers and students from a remote village where everyone is poor? The only reason was the "urge for publicity"—to let the world know that "suddenly Abu Sayyaf was a name to reckon with." (3) And they succeeded very well in arousing global media. The two leaders of this hostage taking were Abu Sabaya and Khaddafy Janjalani. Abu Sabaya told the teacher-hostages: "You stole this island from us. Your schools have corrupted our children. Look at the way our women dress. You brought distorted values here!" (4)

A second Abu Sayyaf attack occurred on April 23, 2000 at the famous divers' resort called Sipadan, located a few miles offshore from the northeastern tip of Borneo. Sipadan today is not even part of the Philippines; rather it belongs to the Malaysian State of Sabah. However, in the past, Sabah belonged to the Sulu Sultanate, a fact known by Galib Andang, a.k.a. Commander Robot, the 33-year-old Tausug from Jolo Island who ran this particular hostage operation. He regaled the 23 kidnapped hotel guests with the usual Wahhabi vitriol about Western alcohol, sex, materialism AIDS, greed, and infidelity, which the Muslim terrorists did not want on "their islands". Exquisitely skilled in rallying the media, Robot successfully upgraded himself and his group from the status of a local to an international-level Islamic Movement. (5) This bravado means much to the Tausags.

A third Abu Sayyaf kidnapping occurred on May 28, 2001 at Dos Palmas (Two Palms) Island Resort at Honda Bay in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan Island, Philippines. Approximately 20 male and female hostages were abducted and marched around the jungles of Basilan, some of them for over a year. One man was brutally beheaded when Abu Sayyaf terrorists perceived that ransoms weren't being paid in a timely manner. Several women were taken as wives by their captors and one even became pregnant by Khaddafy Janjalani, which allowed her to leave the group and get medical treatment, much to her relief. The leaders of this kidnapping were Abu Sabaya and Khaddafy Janjalani. Evidently they had rested up sufficiently from the March 20, 2003 abduction of the school children to take on another operation. Bills must be paid.

Relationship between Abu Sayyaf and the Tausug Tribe

The Abu Sayyaf group is comprised of warriors from the Tausug tribe, an ethnic group of about 400,000 people (1998 census) who live mostly on the island of Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago (a component of the larger Philippines Archipelago). The Sulu Archipelago is a group of volcanic islands that march across the Sulu Sea from the island of Mindanao to the island of Basilan to the island of Jolo, and many more small islands extending to the northeast tip of the island of Borneo. Some Tausugs live on the island of Basilan along with the Yakan tribe.

Who Are the Tausugs?

The Tausugs are an indigenous tribe originally known as the "people of the current". They were the first tribe in the Sulu Archipelago to convert to Islam through the advances of an Arab-taught Muslim scholar named Mukdum, who arrived to Sulu in 1380 A.D. Rajah Baginda followed him in 1390 A.D. and founded the first Muslim Sultanate in Jolo, appointing himself as Sultan.

The Sulu Sultanate was the first working government in the Philippine Archipelago and was, by any definition of international law, a sovereign state, according to one historian. (6) Indeed, the Sulu Sultanate had an administrative hierarchy, a set of laws, an armed ground force and a naval fleet, fiscal management and taxation, and foreign trade and diplomatic relations, according to Barreveld. (6)

By 1475 A.D., Sharif Muhammad Kabungsuwan established his rule on the central portion of the island of Mindanao. Three generations after him, Sultan Dipatuan Qudrat (also spelled: Kudarat) (tenure: 1623-1671), the great-grandson of Kabungsuwan, ruled the entire region. (7) Sultan Kudarat experienced defeats by the Spaniards and rival Muslim Sultans, but he eventually triumphed over Spanish colonialism in the south by uniting virtually all of the peoples of the southern Philippines, including the Tausug tribe.

For centuries, the multi-tribal Sulu Sultanate was respected throughout the Orient and was frequented by foreign dignitaries. At the height of its power in the early part of the 1700s, its territory encompassed the whole Zamboanga peninsula of the island of Mindanao, the island of Basilan, the Sulu Archipelago, and the islands of Tawi-Tawi, Palawan, and Sabah (Sabah today is part of Malaysia, but the Tausugs don't buy that notion; please see above). During the same period, the Sultanate began to intensify its foreign relations with neighboring Muslim principalities, which included Brunei, Makassar, Manila, Cebu (before the Spanish era), Maguindanao, Buayan and Batavia. The foreign relations of the Sulu Sultanate involved trade, mutual friendship and military alliances. The Sultanate had in fact dispatched ambassadors to different places and also received ambassadors from other countries.

The Spaniards Arrive to Colonize the Philippines

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521), a Portuguese navigator working for the Spanish crown, arrived to the Philippines in 1521 A.D., claiming the archipelago for Spain. He was killed by local Muslim chiefs on the then-Muslim island of Cebu. In 1543 A.D., Ruy Lopez de Villalobos named the territory Filipinas after Philip II of Spain.

Permanent Spanish occupation began in 1565 A.D. when Spanish conquistadors with Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in command reached the archipelago. They soon came into conflict with the Muslims living on the islands. "After suffering eight centuries under Muslim rule" in Spain, which the Spanish had finally ended in 1492 A.D., Legaspi, et al, "had no love for the Moros [Moors]. They had not expected to find Muslims in the Philippines." (8) In fact, when Legaspi arrived to the Philippines in 1565, Islam had spread northward to the area that is now Manila on the northernmost island of Luzon.

King Philip II decided to punish the Moros by condemning them to slavery if caught waging war against his conquistadors. He issued a Royal Decree on July 4, 1570, whose text is as follows:

"In Mindanao and adjacent islands in the Philippines there are natives who have adopted the religion of Mahoma (Muhammad) and have allied themselves with the enemies of the Spanish Crown. As rebels, they have inflicted many harms to our vassals. To punish them, I deem it as an efficacious remedy to declare those who should be captured in war to be condemned to slavery.

"We command that such be done. But this distinction must be observed: that if the Mindanao natives be simply heathens, they shall not be made slaves…if they are Moros by nation and birth and propagate the teachings of Islam or make war on the Spaniards and Christian natives, or oppose our sovereignty, then in that case they could be made slaves. But those who are Indians who have become Moros shall not be made slaves. They must be persuaded by lawful and kind methods so that they may accept our Catholic faith." (8)

On May 16, 1571, Legaspi arrived to Manila, which he had made his new capital, and took possession of the Muslim kingdom. The Muslim sultans in the area did not resist and made peace with the Spanish conquistador. The Spanish were able to take possession of most of the islands of the archipelago with the exception of the southernmost islands, especially the large island of Mindanao, and the smaller nearby islands of Basilan and Jolo, where Islam was well entrenched and defended by fierce Tausug warriors.

The conflict between the Spanish and the Moros continued. The Moros led by Sultan Dipatuan Qudrat (see above) raided Spanish settlements in search of slaves and booty. The slaves they sold by the tens of thousands in the slave markets of Southeast Asia, according to Barreveld (p. 69). The Spanish were so terrorized by these raids that they built a series of watch-towers and forts along most of the islands in the central island cluster of the Philippines Archipelago called the Visayas. These towers can still be viewed today. "…The seeming ability [of the Moros] to raid anywhere at will without the Spaniards being able to prevent them struck terror throughout the Visayan islands", according to Jesuits residing in the area. (9)

However, when the Spanish won a battle against the Moros, "huge plundering took place, women were raped, and hundreds of Tausugs were turned into slaves and paraded in the streets of Manila." Mosques were desecrated with the help of Catholic clergy who "always participated in this kind of raids and sometimes even commanded them", and Islamic books were burned, according to eyewitness accounts about the behavior of Spanish soldiers. (10) These raids effectively checked the spread of Islam. The Moros, however, held on in the southern islands of the Philippines, where they reside today, mostly on Jolo and Basilan.

The Founding of Abu Sayyaf by Janjalani

Against this background of deadly conflict between the Muslims and Christians in the Philippines arose the Abu Sayyaf group. It was the brainchild of Abdurazzak Abubakar Janjalani, a Tausug warrior born on November 8, 1963 on the island of Basilan. Remarkably, his father was a Muslim and his mother was a Christian! (11) He even enrolled for a time in Claret College, run by Claretian priests, but left in 1981 at age 18 years after receiving a scholarship from the Saudi Arabian government to study Islamic jurisprudence in Ummu I-Qura in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. There he was exposed to Sunni Muslim Wahhabism, which has been described elsewhere (see “Who Is a Wahhabi” at:http://www.semp.us/biots/biot_123.html; accessed March 6, 2006).

(bin Laden's brother-in-law)

After three years in Saudi Arabia, Abdurazzak Janjalani returned to Basilan Island to teach and preach in mosques in a small village called Tabuk. Soon women were wearing black and men black or gray. There were no longer any of the bright colors for which Filipino culture is known. Janjalani also began experimenting with another extreme conservative Muslim movement known as "Tabligh Jamaat". Founded in rural India 75 years ago, Tabligh Jamaat is one of the most widespread and conservative Islamic movements in the world. It describes itself as a nonpolitical, and nonviolent, group interested only in proselytizing and bringing wayward Muslims back to Islam. Members of Tabligh accomplish their mission of propagating the faith by visiting mosques and college campuses in small missionary bands, preaching a return to purist Islamic values, and recruiting other Muslim men--often young men searching for identity--to join them for a few days or weeks on the road. American Muslim John Walker Lindh was originally recruited by a Tablighi.

About 20,000 Tabligh members, including Abdurazzak Janjalani, resided in Basilan. Professor Amilhussin Jumaani, a member of the board of regents of a university in southern Mindanao declared the Tabligh were harmless, yet he was also tagged as a founder of Abu Sayyaf! (12)

Janjalani in 1987 went to Libya to continue his studies in Islam. In Tripoli he met a number of other Filipino students who were receiving military training for the Moro National Liberation Front, which was working for an independent Muslim state. In Libya, Janjalani developed a reputation as an agitator against MNLF because he believed the organization was betraying the Muslim cause in the Philippines by making deals with Philippine President Corazon Aquino to obtain independence within the framework of Philippine secular law rather than Islamic law.

Sometime in 1987, Janjalani went to Pakistan to join Muslim fighters for the holy war in Afghanistan against the Soviets. "It is not known who convinced the young Tausug preacher to do this. Most probably he was convinced to join by agents from some of the organizers of the Muslim volunteer movements for assisting Afghanistan, such as, for instance, Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK), an organization created and run by Osama bin Laden. These movements were quite massive…amassing within a few years some 35,000 Muslim militants from at least 40 different counties", including the Philippines, to take part in the Afghan jihad. (13)

Young 22-year-old Abdurazzak Janjalani arrived in Peshawar, Pakistan, and joined the 7th Afghan guerilla group, named the Abu Sayyaf, which Afghan Professor Abdul Rasul Abu Sayyaf ran. It was apparently one of the last of the foreign guerilla bands to be formed, according to Barreveld, in 1986 (p. 119) No one knows for sure, but estimates have been placed at 200 for the total number of Filipino fighters in Afghanistan, which included Abdurazza's little brothers named Khaddafy and Hector, and his friend Aldam Tilao who later changed his name to Abu Sabaya (see top of article for his atrocities with the hostages)!

When the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, the 35,000 guerilla fighters for the most part went home, and the Janjalani boys were no different. But when they reached home, they were pumped up and disenchanted with the MNLF's deals with the legitimate government of the Philippines. So Janjalani founded in 1990 his group called Al Harakatul al Islamiya (Islamic Movement) and then went on to further specify his group as Abu Sayyaf (which means “Father of the Sword”) after his professor in Peshawar! What was the group's goal? The goal was the creation of a pure Muslim state based on the Koran, NOT within the framework of the Philippine State. And there was only one way to accomplish this, as far as Janjalani was concerned: holy jihad.

Janjalani most likely met Muhammad Jamal Khalifa--a tall and slender Saudi national and former Afghan fighter--in Peshawar in 1991. Khalifa is the husband of one of Osama bin Laden's older sisters! American investigators allege that bin Laden dispatched Khalifa to the Philippines in 1988 to recruit fighters for the Afghan war. Khalifa apparently ran the local MAK (Maktab al-Khidamat) recruitment in the Philippines (recall that MAK headquarters was in Peshawar, Pakistan), using a rattan furniture business as a cover. He was deeply involved in establishing various Islamic organizations and charities, as well as the Imam Shafie Institute in Patkul, Jolo Island, which is in the heart of Abu Sayyaf territory. Khalifa also married at least two Filipino girls and recruited dozens of Filipino Muslims for the Afghan war, mainly from the southern provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, among others. (14) The recruiting process ended in 1989 with the conclusion of the war.

(The photo above is a rare survivor from an earlier version of Yousef's Wikipedia entry. It has been replaced with the image below on the current page. "No higher resolution" we are told!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramzi_Yousef

Khalifa Brings Ramzi Yousef to the Philippines to Help Abu Sayyaf

At this point, Khalifa remained a frequent visitor to the southern Philippines. In fact, in 1990 he actually stayed in Tabuk, Basilan in the house of Abdurazzak Janjalani or one of his relatives. In summer 1991, Pakistani and Filipino investigators believe that Khalifa was in Peshawar, Pakistan where, under instructions from bin Laden, he offered Janjalani money to develop Abu Sayyaf, and then persuaded two Al Qaeda commanders to visit the Philippines to train Janjalani’s Tausug fighters. One of the bomb-making trainers--Ramzi Yousef--introduced himself to at least one Filipino local (Edwin Angeles) in summer 1991 as "an emissary of Osama Bin Laden" and began a close relationship that lasted throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. (15)

http://www.lazamboangatimes.com/abu_sayyaf.html

In 1992, the Abu Sayyaf had built a camp in the mountains not far from the City of Isabela on Basilan Island. Locals said that the camp was being used for military training. Khalifa, bin Laden’s brother-in-law, visited the camp at least three times in 1992. Finally, in 1992, a million dollars was transferred from Khalifa's agent, named Abdul Asmad, in conjunction with Ramzi Yousef, to Abu Sayyaf to help strengthen its military capability, i.e., purchase arms. Khalifa did not return to the Philippines again after Asmad was killed by police and marines in 1994.

Ramzi Yousef Tries to Blow Up the World Trade Center

On February 23, 1993, Ramzi Yousef was busy moving a huge bomb into position to blow up New York’s World Trade Center. He departed the US to Pakistan where he used his time to strengthen his ties with the bin Laden organization. In mid-1994 associates of bin Laden asked him to travel to the Philippines to help Abu Sayyaf. Some observers believe he was sent to replace Khalifa and Asmad. Yousef made his way back to the Philippines where he proceeded directly to Basilan Island and Abu Sayyaf headquarters in the mountains. In September 1994, Yousef resurfaced in Manila, on the island of Luzon, and returned to Pakistan to tell bin Laden about his brilliant plan: simultaneously blowing up passenger airliners with bombs!

Ramzi Yousef’s Simultaneous Airliner Blow-Up Plan: the Bojinka Plot

Yousef quickly returned to Manila to build a small bomb made with nitroglycerine, a tiny contact lens case, a Casio digital watch, and two nine-volt batteries. He learned that by hiding the batteries in the heels of his shoes he was able to pass all security checks in airports. He tested the bomb in a shopping mall on Cebu Island, and then considered using it to kill President Bill Clinton during a visit to Manila scheduled for 1995. In doing this, Yousef believed that he could ensure his status as the pre-eminent world terrorist for decades to come. He called off the plan because security was too tight around the President and instead turned his attention to his plan to blow up simultaneously a number of jumbo jets over the Pacific Ocean. He called his project "The Bojinka Plot". "Bojinka" in Serbo-Croatian means “explosion”. He tested his bomb on December 11, 1994, by placing it under a seat (26K) of Philippines Airlines Flight #434, which had one more leg after he deplaned.

The bomb went off as planned at 30,000 feet, instantaneously killing 24-year-old Haruki Ikegami, a Japanese national occupying the seat. The plane's Captain Ed Reyes and his crew were able to make a safe emergency landing of the Boeing 747. None of the aircraft's other 272 passengers or 20 crew members died, although 10 passengers sitting in front of Ikegami were injured. After the bombing, according to one source, a man claiming to represent a rebel group said in a telephone call to the Manila office of the Associated Press: "We are Abu Sayyaf Group. We explode one plane from Cebu." (16) Yousef was frustrated that the plane had not crashed, just as the World Trade Centers had not crashed.

Early in January 1995, Yousef was again in Manila where he was preparing for Bojinka. While working with the explosive chemicals required to make the bombs, a small fire started in his apartment. He could not extinguish it and fled with his partner named Murad. The building caretaker called the Manila Fire Department. Suddenly, Yousef realized he had left behind his laptop computer, with all the plans and details of Bojinka. He sent Murad back to get it, and Murad was promptly arrested.

Ramzi Yousef Is Arrested and Imprisoned for Life

“The Philippine police could hardly believe their eyes,” writes Barreveld. “Under the project name Bojinka they found the plan to blow up simultaneously 11 US airliners over the Pacific. If successfully executed it would have sacrificed the lives of some 4,000 passengers and crew. It was an astonishing plot. The plan was scheduled for January 21, 1995.” (17) Meanwhile, Yousef managed to leave the country and go into hiding in Pakistan. On February 7, 1995, the FBI arrested him in Pakistan. He was flown to the US where he was convicted for bombing the World Trade Center in 1993. He received a sentence of life imprisonment in a maximum security prison in Colorado where he is today.

Abu Sayyaf’s other Early Activities

Abu Sayyaf’s first major terrorist attack was about the same time the group allegedly received the million dollars from bin Laden--in 1992. Members launched a grenade attack in Davao City on Mindanao Island, killing two foreign women. In 1993, they hurled a bomb at a wharf in Zamboanga City on Mindanao Island, injuring several people, and launched similar bombing attacks at the Zamboanga Airport in Roman Catholic churches, including the cathedral of Davao City in which seven people were killed.

They practiced their abductions with kidnapping in 1992 a Davao-based businesswoman who was held hostage in Abdurazzak Janjalani's house in Tabuk, Isabela. After a ransom was received, Janjalani let her go unharmed. In April 1993, the group captured five-year old Ton-Ton Biel, his 73-year-old grandfather, and a Claretian priest. When they received the expected ransoms, the hostages were eventually released. Then on November 14, 1993, they kidnapped an American missionary named Charles M. Watson who was ransomed and released on December 7, 1993. In 1994, the group kidnapped three Spanish nuns and a Spanish priest who were ransomed and released. On June 8, 1994, Abu Sayyaf took hostage a group of 70 school children and teachers who were ransomed and released. On December 11, 1994, Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for the bomb explosion on Philippine Airlines Flight #434 already described above. In 1995, Abu Sayyaf was linked with a plot to kill Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Philippines, but the plot was discovered and aborted.

Ipil is a town about 60 miles north of Zamboanga City on Mindanao Island. At the break of dawn on April 4, 1995, 200 heavily-armed members of Abu Sayyak gunned down 53 people, robbed banks, plundered stores, took 30 hostages as human shields, and then burned the town to the ground. A final conclusion about the Ipil raid was never published.

The Death of Abdurazzak Janjalani

In the aftermath of Ipil, there was a lull in Abu Sayyaf’s criminal activities. Apparently the group had made enough money from robbing the banks. On September 9, 1997, however, the group started up again by kidnapping a German executive who was ransomed on December 26, 1997. Then the police located and killed 35-year-old Abdurazzak Janjalani on December 18, 1998. On January 3, 1999, to avenge Janjalani’s death, the Abu Sayyak lobbed a grenade into a crowd that had gathered to watch firefighters put out a blaze in a neighborhood supermarket in Jolo, killing 10 people and injuring 74 more. Abdurazzak's youngest brother Khaddafy Janjalani emerged as the new head of Abu Sayyaf, with Abu Sabaya second in command. And this brings us to the attack of March 20, 2000 when Abu Sayyaf kidnapped Christian students in Tumahubong, described earlier. A listing of additional “smaller” Abu Sayyaf attacks between 2000 and 2002 is available at: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/images/news/microsites/abusayyaf/chronology.htm. Abu Sabaya was killed in 2002 while trying to evade forces. Commander Robot was captured in Sulu in December 2003. Khaddafy Janjalani remains at large.

Summary

Abu Sayyaf is currently in its death throes, or so it seems. Founded by Abdurazzak Janjalani, the oldest of four sons of a Muslim father and a Christian mother on the island of Basilan in the southern Philippines, Abu Sayyaf was the embodiment of Janjalani’s grandiose idea of using Tausug force to retake the Philippines. He developed this idea during a heady experience in Afghanistan alongside the likes of Osama bin Laden, who later anointed Abu Sayyaf as the East Asian arm of Al Qaeda. The death of the pious zealot Abdurazzak in 1998 left the group under the unsure leadership of his youngest brother Khaddafy, who had also fought in the holy war in Afghanistan. Khaddafy does not possess the intellect or vision of his older brother, and has led the organization toward criminal activities unrelated to “retaking the Philippines”, including banditry, piracy, and indiscriminate murder. He is currently at large, eluding capture by the authorities.

page 115: "Professor Amilhussin Jumaani, member of the board of regents of the Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City...Jumaani was tagged as one of the three original founders of the Abu Sayyaf."

page 121: "The Abu Sayyaf's first set of officers...Abdul Asmad, intelligence chief...half-Tausug Edwin Angeles, a Muslim convert using the name Ibrahim Yakub, who acted as operations chief, Juvenal Bruno, a Muslim convert from Cagayan de Oro, he eventually succeeded Angeles when he left the group in 1995. Wahab Muhammad Akbar left the group...In 1998 he ran for governor of the province of Basilan and won.

Since launching a major offensive against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in August 2006, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have dealt the group a number of crippling blows. While members of the ASG are still at large, the frequency and lethality of their attacks have dropped precipitously since the first quarter of 2007, when several top commanders were killed. The ASG lack any semblance of central leadership at this point. Indeed, their continued existence seems to be more due to the AFP’s failings than to any concerted effort to regroup. Moreover, the ASG appears short on financial resources and has reverted back to spates of kidnappings for ransom, effectively jettisoning what little ideological pretensions the group ever had.

Background

Formed in 1991 by a veteran of the Afghan jihad, Abdurrajak Janjalani, the ASG developed as a small-scale terrorist organization committed to establishing an Islamic state in the Sulu archipelago [1]. Yet, unlike the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the ASG was decidedly sectarian in its killings. The group attacked churches and kidnapped or killed Christian priests or missionaries. By 1996-1998, the group had been seriously degraded with the loss of their al-Qa`ida funding and the death of their leader, Abdurrajak. From 1996-2002, the Abu Sayyaf were no more than a group of well-armed kidnappers, driven by profit rather than ideological fervor. Although they gained international notoriety in 2000-2001 with several high-profile raids and large-scale kidnappings on Philippine and Malaysian dive resorts, they remained a criminal threat. The 2001 hostage taking of an American missionary couple and the beheading of another American citizen were the casus belli for the U.S. intervention in the southern Philippines. Since then, U.S. Special Forces have rotated in and out of the southern Philippines where they provide training and intelligence for their AFP counterparts.

The capture and killing of several ASG leaders in 2002 actually had a backlash: Janjalani’s younger brother, Khadaffy, consolidated a degree of power and re-oriented the group back toward its ideological principles. At the same time, the members of the Indonesian-dominated terrorist organization, Jemaah Islamiyah, based in MILF camps, established ties with the ASG. By 2003, all kidnappings had ceased, and starting in 2004 the ASG and JI had begun a new wave of terrorist bombings from Mindanao to Manila, prompting several offensives by government forces. An AFP bombing of a MILF safe house in the Liguasan Marsh where several ASG and JI members were holed up prompted the MILF to oust them [2]. By January 2005, top JI members Dulmatin and Umar Patek were based with the ASG in Jolo.

Operation Ultimatum began in August 2006 and continues to this day, although the real operational tempo diminished by mid-2007. U.S. military advisors and analysts were surprised that the AFP was able to maintain the offensive on Jolo Island for as long as they did. In all, eight battalions of AFP and Philippine Marines were deployed. Five years of U.S. training and assistance began to bear fruit and for the first time joint inter-service operations were showing real gains. In September 2006 and March 2007, two top leaders, Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman, were killed [3]. Since then, the ASG has fallen into a tail spin.

Current State of the ASG

While a handful of press reports [4] and analysts [5] asserted that the ASG had appointed the Middle East-trained Yasser Igasan as their new leader, there was no evidence to support this claim. Igasan had been in Saudi Arabia since 2001 studying religion and fundraising for Moro causes. An April 2008 press report from the Philippines later denied that Igasan had become the group’s new chieftain, and Philippine security officials acknowledged that the ASG “haven’t been able to come up with a single, influential leader who can unite the different factions” [6]. Some of the remaining ASG leaders still at large include:

- Isnilon Totoni Hapilon, alias Salahuddin or Abu Mus`ab

- Radullan Sahiron, alias Kumander Putol

- Umbra Abu Jumdail, alias Dr. Abu Pula

- Albader Parad

- Osman, alias Usman or Rizal

- Gumbahali Jumdail

- Ustadz Hatta Haipe

- Tahil Sali

- Abu Sofian

- Suhod Tanadjalan, alias Kumander Suhod

The AFP asserted that Isnilon Hapilon was wounded in late April in a battle that killed his son [7]. Hapilon, who has a bounty from the U.S. government of up to $5 million, remains one of the leading figures of the movement. Although Radullan Sahiron remains at large, at 71-years-old and missing a limb the AFP no longer see him as an active leader. Umbra Abu Jumdail (Abu Pula) remains the second-most wanted figure, although Albadar Parad is often described as the group’s most violent and dangerous commander. What is clear is that there are distinct factions, and the ASG in no sense is a cohesive organization.

Fleeing the authorities and short of funds, the ASG is a diminished terrorist threat. In September 2007, an ASG operative was arrested en route to Manila where he was ordered to stage diversionary attacks. The most spectacular attack in the past year was the November 13, 2007 bombing-cum-assassination of Basilan Congressman Wahab Akbar, a former member of the ASG who had become an outspoken opponent against them [8]. In February 2008, two suspected ASG operatives were arrested in Davao Oriental with an Indonesian JI member, Baihaqi. On March 1, a homemade bomb ripped through a bar near an army base on Jolo, wounding six people. In mid-April, two bombs fashioned from 60-millimeter and 81-millimeter mortar shells were detonated outside of a Catholic cathedral and cafe in Zamboanga, although no one was injured [9]. That same month, police arrested an ASG operative in Quezon City, Alpaker Said (Abu Jandal), and charged him with the attack on Wahab Akbar. Police believed he was planning a new series of attacks [10]. There were many other small bombings in central Mindanao in late 2007 and early 2008, but most have been attributed to hard line elements of the MILF or the al-Khobar extortion gang, not the ASG [11]. Nonetheless, the ASG is still able to perpetrate lethal attacks, such as the May 29 bombing of an Air Force facility in Zamboanga that killed three and wounded 18 [12]. What is all the more remarkable is that due to being constantly on the run, the ASG has been unable to leverage the technical bomb-making expertise of two JI operatives implicated in the 2002 Bali bombing—Dulmatin and Umar Patek—who have been with the ASG since early 2005.

The AFP has engaged the ASG in a small number of fierce encounters. Two police were killed in Jolo in January 2008. At the end of that month, a pitched battle in Tawi-Tawi led to the death of Wahab Opao, as well as reports that JI operative Dulmatin was killed [13]. Although a body was later exhumed and DNA tested, U.S. officials have failed to conclude whether the body was in fact Dulmatin’s. Between February and April, nearly 10 soldiers and marines were killed in clashes on Jolo. What is more troubling is that clashes with the ASG on Basilan, which had been clear of the ASG for several years, are now drawing the AFP into battles with the MILF, who maintain a camp in Tipo-Tipo. In July 2007, 14 AFP were killed, 10 of whom were beheaded, when the ASG sought refuge in the MILF camp [14]. While the MILF admitted to killing the AFP in self-defense, they denied that they were fighting alongside the ASG, giving them sanctuary or that they had beheaded the troops [15]. On May 25, fighting again broke out between government forces and MILF and ASG combatants in Basilan, leaving six AFP dead. Again, the MILF denied any ASG presence [16].

Re-Degeneration: Return to Kidnappings

Perhaps the most telling sign of the ASG’s current state is their degeneration to kidnappings. While there were a number of incidences in 2007, the tempo has increased in the first half of 2008 and money has become the primary motive. In mid-January, a Roman Catholic priest was killed in a botched kidnapping, while a teacher from the parochial school was taken hostage. The teacher was released in late March after his family paid a 200,000 peso ($4,880) ransom. In March, a South Korean and Filipino were abducted. In early April, ASG members kidnapped a Department of Education official and several teachers. On April 10, ASG gunmen released seven persons they abducted separately. On May 28, a Filipino businessman in Zamboanga was abducted [17]. In all of these cases, the captives were released after ransoms were paid, suggesting that the ASG is short of funds.

What concerns Philippine officials most about the trend is that the ASG seem to be planning a new wave of high profile kidnappings of tourists. On March 13, a suspected Indonesian member of JI and ASG member were arrested on the resort island of Boracay, where authorities assert they were “casing” hotels and bars [18]. Most recently, on June 8 Ces Drilon, a popular senior reporter for ABS-CBN, was kidnapped by suspected ASG militants; a ransom is being demanded for her release [19].

How Does the ASG Survive?

Into the eighth year of U.S. training and hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, not to mention the bulk of USAID funding being concentrated in Sulu and Mindanao, why have the ASG not been finished off? The current order of battle only puts them at 300-400 people. Although the terrain is very rugged, the AFP has considerable intelligence being provided from the United States. People in Jolo, at first resistant to the American presence, have been more receptive due to the civic action and medical missions being conducted. More intelligence is coming from tips from the local community who are increasingly tired of the ASG’s nihilism. Moreover, the United States has provided more than $10 million since 2001 for information leading to arrests of ASG members [20].

Part of the problem is that the operational tempo of the AFP is down considerably from 2007, when 127 ASG were killed and 38 captured [21]. The AFP has a tendency to not hold on to territory it has captured. In mid-April 2008, the Philippine Army disregarded the ASG as a threat and withdrew a large number of their forces from Jolo, leaving the bulk of operations with the marines.

A more cynical answer is that the AFP has little intention of finishing the job since that would end the pipeline of U.S. training and military assistance, which would force the funds allocated by the government in Manila to actually make it down to front-line troops. The campaign against institutionalized corruption in the AFP has not been as impressive. As the recent State Department report on terrorism noted, “Limited financial resources, inadequate salaries, corruption, low morale, limited cooperation between police and prosecutors, and other problems in law enforcement have hampered bringing terrorists to justice” [22].

Yet, the ASG is also the beneficiary of a government that has never tried to establish a holistic solution for its Moro troubles, instead killing operatives as they appear and implementing a divide and conquer policy toward the three disparate rebel groups. In March 2007, MNLF commanders in Jolo and Zamboanga quit the peace process and attacked government forces. Habier Malik joined up with the ASG in Jolo, in effect doubling their size, because the government had failed to implement the 1996 Tripoli Accords or attend the Tripartite Talks with the Organization of the Islamic Conference [23]. The government at first refused to attend the talks, citing the ongoing peace process with the MILF, and since then has attended but been non-committal. The parallel set of peace talks with the MILF has stalled since the November 2007 breakthrough on the issue of ancestral domain. In the end, the AFP and hardliners in the government have refused to endorse what government negotiators agreed on. Malaysia has since begun withdrawing their peacekeepers from Mindanao, and cease-fire violations are increasing [24]. Frustration on the part of all the various Moro ethnic groups is palpable, and few have any faith that the government ever negotiates in sincerity.

While all three groups have failed to develop a common program or platform, at the tactical level of autonomous field commanders, there is considerable cooperation. Although this has helped keep the ASG alive, they are clearly a diminished threat.

Dr. Zachary Abuza, Professor of Political Science at Simmons College, specializes in Southeast Asian politics and security issues. He is a graduate of Trinity College and received his MALD and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is the author of a number of books, including Muslims, Politics and Violence in Indonesia(Routledge, 2006), Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand and its Implications for Southeast Asian Security (U.S. Institute of Peace, 2008) and Militant Islam in Southeast Asia (Lynne Rienner, 2003). His monograph, Balik Terrorism: The Return of the Abu Sayyaf Group, was published by the U.S. Army War College’s Security Studies Institute in 2005. A study of Jemaah Islamiyah’s overt strategy of engaging in social welfare and charitable works, Jemaah Islamiyah and the Inverse Triangle, is due to be published in 2008.

Also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, Abu Sayyaf translates as "Sword of God"

History: The original leadership of ASG fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and brought radical Islamic teachings with them to the Philippines [1]. ASG split off from the Moro National Liberation Front in the early 1990s. Yet, unlike the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the ASG was decidedly sectarian in its killings. The group has historically targeted churches and kidnapped or killed Christian priests or missionaries. During 1996-1998, the ASG was seriously impaired by the loss of their al-Qaeda funding [2]and the death of their leader, Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani. Janjalani provided the majority of ideological guidance and networking with al-Qaeda during the formative years of ASG's development.

From 1996-2002, the Abu Sayyaf were no more than a group of well-armed kidnappers, driven by profit rather than ideological fervor. Although they gained international notoriety in 2000-2001 with several high-profile raids and large-scale kidnappings on Philippine and Malaysian dive resorts, they remained a criminal threat. The 2001 hostage taking of an American missionary couple and the beheading of another American citizen were the casus belli for the U.S. intervention in the southern Philippines. Since then, U.S. Special Forces have rotated in and out of the southern Philippines where they provide training and intelligence for their Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) counterparts.

The major military endeavor in the region, Operation Ultimatum began in August 2006 and continues to this day, although the real operational tempo diminished by mid-2007 [3]. U.S. military advisers and analysts were surprised that the AFP was able to maintain the offensive on Jolo Island for as long as they did. In all, eight battalions of AFP and Philippine Marines were deployed. Five years of U.S. training and assistance began to bear fruit and for the first time joint inter-service operations were showing significant territorial gains. In September 2006 and March 2007, two top leaders, Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman, were killed [4]. Since then, the ASG has suffer from organizational decay [5] , lack of strong leadership, a lack of financial support and a lack of popular support [6]. The current leader of ASG is Albader Parad, who alone had made P20 million from his group’s kidnapping operations in year 2000. [7].

The members of Abu Sayyaf are self proclaimed mujahedeen and freedom fighters but are not provided social or political support by many people in Moroland including Muslim clerics.

Abu Sayyaf is estimated to have a core membership of 200 with an extended membership of over 2000 [8]. The ASG's low numbers indicate a lack of support among the local population. An early February 2009 estimate by Philippine Brig. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan concludes that hardcore ASG membership has been reduced to around 100 individuals [9]. However, that estimate has been questioned by outsiders. There is speculation that the Philippine military has grossly underestimated the strength of ASG [10].

They continue to have ties with their parent organization, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Jemaah Islamiya (JI), which is based mainly in Indonesia.

Geography: ASG is based in the southern Philippines. The ASG was originated in Basilan Province and primarily operates in the Sulu Archipelago, namely in the Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi provinces. The group has intermittent operations on the Zamboanga peninsula, and members occasionally travel to Manila [11] .

Goals: ASG seeks the establishment of an Islamic state in the Philippines, specifically in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. The long term goal is the creation of a pan Islamic State spanning Southeast Asia [12].

In early 2009 ASG began to insist that they would end their random-seeking behavior, instead taking hostage with purpose of raising awareness of the condition of Muslim citizens in the Philippines [13]. Instead of monetary demands for hostages, the ASG is demanding political negotiations and welfare concession from the Philippine government and local governmental authorities [14].

These Short-term Goals Include:

• The pullout of the military from the Sulu province.

• The declaration of Jolo as an open port between Malaysia and Sulu to boast the economic development of the people of Western Mindanao.[15]

Terrorism methods: Most recently, ASG has utilized kidnapping, extortion and banditry to achieve group goals. Historically, they have utilized bombing, beheadings and assassinations as terrorism tactics. In 2001 ASG kidnapped 20 people, including 3 Americans. ASG beheaded one of the American and held the other two for a year, demanding ransom. In 2002 during a rescue attempt by U.S.-trained Philippine commandos tried to rescue two hostages were shot. Two months late, ASG kidnapped six Filipino Jehovah’s Witnesses and beheaded two of them. [16]

According to Philippine government officials, Abu Sayyaf uses the hostage-taking and ransoming to recruit new members, raising its organizational strength, and to acquire new equipment, including communications equipment and transportation, including trucks and speedboats.

Current activities:

September 2008

• September 21, 2008: Two Abu Sayyaf Group members who claimed to have met with wanted Jemaah Islamiyah members Dulmatin and Umar Patek surrendered to authorities. – Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 23 [17]

October 2008

• October 10, 2008: Authorities on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines killed an Abu Sayyaf Group member and captured three of his comrades. – AFP, October 11 [18]

• October 11, 2008: Authorities arrested a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group who was believed to be involved in the June kidnapping of journalist Ces Drilon. The operative, identified as Marcial Totoh Jabarot (also known as Abu Cesar), was arrested on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines. – Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 12 [19]

• October 18, 2008: Suspected Abu Sayyaf Group gunmen attempted to kill a Catholic priest in Basilan in the southern Philippines, although the priest's bodyguards were able to repel the attackers. The assailants were able to inflict a number of injuries. – AFP, October 18[20]

• October 21, 2008: A Philippine court extended a freeze on the assets of Hilarion Santos, the alleged leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM). Santos was arrested three years ago and is on trial for kidnapping and rebellion. The freeze, which makes it illegal to sell off any properties owned by Santos, will be in effect until January 25, 2009. The RSM spun off from the Abu Sayyaf Group, and is primarily composed of Filipino Christians who converted to Islam. – AFP, October 21 [21]

• October 30, 2008: One of two aid workers held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Group for 45 days in the jungles of the Philippines was released unharmed. The gunmen did not release the second hostage. According to a press report, the released hostage said she “lived in constant fear during her ordeal, with the rebels at one time threatening to cut off her fingers if her family refused to pay a ransom of two million pesos.” It was not clear whether a ransom was paid. – The Age, October 30 [22]

• November 14, 2008: Philippine Marines killed an Abu Sayyaf Group militant—who was linked to a 2001 kidnapping of three Americans—on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines. The operative was identified as Faidar Hadjadi. – AP, November 16 [24]

• November 21, 2008: Authorities arrested two suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group. The men were allegedly planning to attack malls, bus stations and other civilian targets in the metropolitan area of Manila, the country’s capital city. – GMANews.tv, November 24 [26]

December 2008

• December 7, 2008: Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) fighters and Philippine Marines clashed on the outskirts of Basilan in the southern Philippines. During the encounter, five Marines and at least 50 ASG fighters were killed. One authority figure said of the incident, “This is part of our punitive operations against the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in Basilan.” – Sun Star, December 9 [27]

• December 17, 2008: A Philippine court convicted four Abu Sayyaf Group members for the killing of two people during a 2001 attack on a resort in Davao del Norte Province. – AP, December 17 [28]

• December 19, 2008: A top military official announced that there is a high probability that Abu Sayyaf Group leader Sahiron was killed during a December 7 clash with Philippine troops. – PNA, December 19 [29]

• December 23, 2008: A grenade exploded amid a crowd attending a concert on Basilan Island in the southern Philippines. At least 16 people were injured. The Abu Sayyaf Group was suspected as being responsible for the blast. – AP, December 23 [30]

• December 24, 2008: Seven inmates, including two accused of membership with the Abu Sayyaf Group, escaped from a Philippine jail in Basilan Province in the southern Philippines. Three of the seven were immediately recaptured, but the others evaded authorities. – PNA, December 24[31]

January 2009

• January 14, 2009: Several inmates, including accused members of the ASG escaped from a provincial jail in the Philippines through a tunnel which they hid under books and prayer mats. By the time the escape was discovered, the inmates had fled into the jungle. [32]

• January 15, 2009: Three aid workers, Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Jean Lacaba who are members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf Group in Patikul, Sulu. [33]

• January 19, 2009: Kidnapped ICRC aid workers called ICRC headquarters in the Philippines to request that military effort being made to locate them be ended. The Philippine military and police have deployed over 1,000 personnel to the Sulu province in an attempt to locate the hostages.[34]

• January 23, 2009: Islamic terrorists kidnapped three school teachers in the south and have taken them to Basilan island. The terrorists are demanding ransom of $127,000. [35]

• January 28,2009: The U.S. has issued a travel advisory for Mindanao, Philippines in a response to a surge of kidnappings by the ASG. [36]

• January 29,2009: In the first direct contact by Philippine officials, Provincial Vice Governor Lady Ann Sahidulla met with members of Abu Sayyaf and the 3 ICRC hostages taken captive earlier in January. Abu Sayyaf has broken its pattern of hostage-ransoming, but refusing to issue a monetary demand for the hostages. Instead, the group demanded investment in education and development projects for impoverished Muslim communities. [37]

• February 13 2009: Omar Jalil, 36, a Sri Lankan activist from the nonpartisan group Nonviolent Peaceforce, which has been monitoring a decades-old Muslim separatist uprising in the Philippines, was taken by nine gunmen from his residence in coastal Lamitan town on Basilan island. [39]

• February 28, 2009: The Abu Sayyaf has made two demands for the release of three abducted International Committee of the Red Cross workers, said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). These include the pullout of the military from Sulu and for the government to declare Jolo as an open port between Malaysia and Sulu to boast the economic development of the people of Western Mindanao.[40]

March 2009

• March 2, 2009: Jocelyn Gruta, the mother of the 9-year-old boy abducted in Lamitan City on Feb. 1, said she was asked to pay P5 million in ransom or her son would be killed.[41]

• March 8, 2009: Gunmen, suspected members of ASG, attacked a fishing boat in the volatile southern Philippines, shooting to death three fishermen and abducting two others. [42]

• March 17, 2009: An Abu Sayyaf Group sub-commander,Jul Asbi Jalmaani, and his aide were killed in an encounter with government troops in Sulu Tuesday. [43]

• March, 18 2009: ASG extremists threatened to behead one of their three Red Cross hostages if the Philippine military engages them in battle again. ASG leader Parad reiterated that he will not negotiate unless troops back off from his jungle stronghold.[44]

• March 28, 2009: Government officials on Saturday agreed to pull out troops, police forces, and civilian groups from a section of a cordoned-off area in Indanan, Sulu, to ensure the safety of three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) volunteers held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf[45].

April 2009

• April 01,2009: The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) has been preparing for a mass evacuation in Sulu to prevent civilian casualties as government forces were prepared for a "full-scale rescue operation" against the Abu Sayyaf Group which has been holding three Red Cross workers hostage for 77 days at a village in Indanan town [46].

• April 02, 2009: Abu Sayyaf released one of three Red Cross hostages after almost three months in captivity.

• April 7, 2009: The Abu Sayyaf group has abducting at least 200 victims since 2003 in over 90 incidents, including the three International Committee of Red Cross workers in Sulu, according to a military document. The document showed that the Abu Sayyaf got over P22 million pesos (some $440,000) of ransom in its kidnappings in Sulu alone [47].

• April 7, 2009: Islamist militants that kidnapped three humanitarian workers in the Philippines have demanded a $5 million (SFr5.6 million) ransom, according to a military report. This ASG continues to hold two employees of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including Andreas Notter, a Swiss citizen, on Jolo Island.

• April 9, 2009: The ICRC responded to ASG demands that $5 million or more than P200 million for the release of three kidnapped workers of ICRC. Sen. Richard Gordon said that the International Committee of the Red Cross would reject any demand for ransom for the release of its three volunteers kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf [48].

Interactions with governments: President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo voiced strong support for the United States in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. She subsequently pushed to have ASG listed on the U.S. State Department FTO List. She cited Philippine national interests as the reason for her pro-U.S. stand and linked the struggle against international terrorism with the struggle against terrorism within the Philippines [49]

Beginning in October 2001, the United States sent groups of military observers to Mindanao to assess operations against Abu Sayyaf by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), render advice, and examine AFP equipment needs.[50]. President Bush extended $93 million in military aid to the Philippines when President Arroyo visited Washington in 2001, and he offered a direct U.S. military role in combating Abu Sayyaf. President Arroyo insisted that the U.S. military role should be advisory and that the AFP would retain full operational responsibility. By late December 2001, the AFP on Mindanao began to receive quantities of U.S. military equipment. Moreover, AFP commanders expressed frustration over the failure to rescue the hostages and suggested that they would support President Arroyo if she sought a more direct U.S. military role. It was announced in January 2002 that the United States would deploy 650 troops to Mindanao and Basilan within a month. Support/maintenance personnel would number 500. Special Forces numbering 150 would perform training and advisory functions; and some of these would accompany AFP units on Basilan.

In 2002 a significant decrease in membership and networking capacities due to joint counter-terrorism efforts by the Philippine and U.S. governments, reduced ASG capacity to engage in 'traditional' forms of terrorism.

Analysis: The modern ASG is a blend of terrorist organization and criminal organization. Many of their activities are not primarily terrorism but are used to gain funds to train, equip and plan future incidences of terrorism. In many respects, the changes witnessed in the ASG since its inception are best explained through the theoretical framework of organizational process theory.

While the Organizational approach accurately predicts and explains isomorphic changes witnessed in the ASG in the late 90’s and again in late 2007, it fails to adequately control for the way such changes manifested. Rather than experience a shift in ideology, the ASG maintained a militant Islamic orientation but significantly shifted the methods of achieving the goal of a Southeast Asian Islamic state [51]. When the group experienced the lost of strong leadership, first in 1998 when founder Abdurajak Janjalani was killed and again in September 2006 and March 2007, when two ASG leaders, Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman, were killed by joint counter-terrorism forces, there was a predicted spike in criminal-terrorist activities [52]. In addition to the loss of the organizations primary leadership, the period of their death corresponded by increased counter-terrorism efforts but the AFP. The organization responded to pressure from outside by changing the incentives offered to members or through innovation. The dual external pressures and internal fragmentation of the ASG hierarchy caused subsequent leaders to increase rational-actor incentives, in the form of increased profits margins to retain ASG members. This criminalization of ASG methods appears counter-intuitive to Organization theories about inter-group competition.

Moreover, the unexpected criminalization of existing strategic objective, including the profit seeking through kidnapping and ransoming, is explained through the operational environment of the ASG. The Philippines are home to several Muslim separatist groups which provide intergroup competition with ASG, including the MILF, MNLF, and JI. While the Organizational approach would predict that the abundance of several ideologically similar groups would cause ideological isomorphism, the regional remnants of the al-Qaeda movement and principles prevented this [53]. Former cooperation with al-Qaeda, which encouraged multiple efforts to advance the probability of an Islamic state, meant that for ASG maintaining ideological parity with other groups would insure continued, although often covert, support [54]. By distinguishing themselves from rival organization through more extreme methods and high profits, the ASG secured a niche as the most fervent of the Muslim separatists groups.